Extreme Makeovers, Round 33: Eagle Scout project before-and-after photos

This is the 33rd in an occasional series where I share Eagle Scout project before-and-after photos. See the complete collection here and submit your own here.

COVID-19 note: Most of these Eagle projects were completed before the pandemic, meaning the photos may not necessarily depict coronavirus-related health and safety protocols.


To fully understand the impact Eagle Scout projects have on communities, you need to see to believe. That’s why I asked to see Eagle Scout project before-and-after photos — the same photos prospective Eagles are asked to include with their post-project report.

The latest batch of 20 projects includes a mural honoring local veterans, a memorial garden and a 22-foot walking bridge at Indiana Dunes National Park.

What’s great is that you can multiply each individual act of stupendous service by more than 50,000. That’s how many Eagle Scout projects get completed every single year.

TIP: Click/tap and drag the slider below each image to see the change.

Owen from Colorado

Who: Owen, Troop 780, Castle Rock, Colo.

What: Owen and his helpers cleaned up and re-landscaped a memorial garden. Owen’s troop also built and installed two beetle-kill benches (made with sustainably sourced wood harvested from pine trees killed by destructive beetles). The memorial garden was originally built in 2002 in memory of a young man killed in a car accident.


Isabella from Minnesota

Who: Isabella, Troop 384, Minneapolis, Minn.

What: With the dangers of the coronavirus and the murder of George Floyd taking place just miles away, people were paying less attention to helping homeless shelters. Recognizing this, Isabella and her helpers held a monthlong donation drive for the Simpson Homeless Shelter, which works with landlords across the city to help find affordable housing in order to help people exit homelessness.


Dalton from North Carolina

Who: Dalton, Troop 370, Waynesville, NC

What: Dalton and his helpers renovated a scaled-down replica of his church into a Little Free Library that provides anyone with free books to enjoy.


Andrew from California

Who: Andrew, Troop 247, Antioch, Calif.

What: Andrew and his helpers designed and built new shooting benches for the Concord Police Association range. (The single photo below shows Andrew with both the old and new benches.)


Adam from Georgia

Who: Adam, Troop 631, College Park, Ga.

What: Adam and his helpers built a 50-seat outdoor chapel for an organization that supports at-risk children in West Atlanta.


Brock from Nebraska

Who: Brock, Troop 155, Lindsay, Neb.

What: Brock and his helpers organized the painting of a mural at the local post office to honor veterans. More than 230 local veterans have their names included on the rocks in the painting. The mural took nearly four months with 24 workers combining to perform 541 hours of service. Brock also organized a dedication and blessing of the mural.


Jared from New York

Who: Jared, Troop 264, Altamont, N.Y.

What: Jared and his helpers built a patio to go around an existing fire pit. With the patio in place, Jared and his helpers also built two benches and a table.


Amber from Iowa

Who: Amber, Troop 270, Coralville, Iowa

What: Amber and her helpers designed, built and landscaped a prayer garden for day or evening prayer and meditation at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Coralville.


Benson from Virginia

Who: Benson, Troop 1829, Midlothian, Va.

What: Benson and his helpers refurbished the neighborhood playground. They installed a large barrier around two structures, filled in with 100 cubic yards of playground mulch, installed playground mats at the bottom of the slides, cleaned graffiti off of the structures, built two picnic tables and painted the picnic pavilion supports.


Dominick from Illinois

Who: Dominick, Troop 85, Ingleside, Ill.

What: Dominick and his helpers organized a team of 35 volunteers to travel out of state to disassemble and build a new 22-foot walking bridge on the Little Calumet River Trail at the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (now National Park).


Ben from California

Who: Ben, Troop 310, Orangevale, Calif.

What: Ben and his helpers installed a 10-by-10-foot cement pad and a walkway, with two 6-foot steel benches for use by a special-needs class at Oakview Elementary School.


Kyra from Maryland

Who: Kyra, Troop 160, Glen Burnie, Md.

What: Kyra and her helpers created a memorial garden for the 18 fallen firefighters in her county. The garden, located outside the fire department headquarters, includes perennials that will bloom from early spring until late fall.


Matthew from Texas

Who: Matthew, Troop 77, Frisco, Texas

What: Matthew and his helpers developed a flag retirement program for the city of Frisco, which included a ceremonial flag retirement site so veterans organizations and Scouts could hold official flag retirement ceremonies. He also decorated and placed flag donation bins in all four corners of the city so citizens could surrender worn and tattered flags.


Conner from Washington

Who: Conner, Troop 401, Auburn, Wash.

What: Over nearly 400 hours of work at his church, Conner and his helpers removed an acre of black raspberry briers, framed the old seating area with 4-by-4 landscaping timbers, laid 10 cubic yards of crushed rock over weed-preventing fabric, installed a new fire pit and finished the project off with a wheelchair-accessible pathway over a new culvert from the church parking lot.

Conner is pictured at right in each photo with his twin brother, Hunter.


John from South Carolina

Who: John, Troop 48, Irmo, S.C.

What: John and his helpers cleared a lot and installed a playground for an after-school program at Three Crosses Outreach in Norway, S.C.


Om from Texas

Who: Om, Troop 1323, Houston, Texas

What: Om and his helpers built a 44-by-14-foot ground level deck for the sitting/picnic area at SIRE, which is a nonprofit that provides therapeutic service for people with special needs through horseback riding. This area is used by family members while their loved one receives therapy.


Andrew from New Jersey

Who: Andrew, Troop 116, Millstone Township, N.J.

What: Andrew and his helpers led the construction and installation of a wooden informational kiosk outside the Monmouth Battlefield State Park visitor center in Manalapan, N.J.


Kevin from Georgia

Who: Kevin, Troop 5, Clarkesville, Ga.

What: Kevin and his helpers created a memorial garden to honor a local elementary school teacher.


Ronald from Indiana

Who: Ronald, Troop 152, Indianapolis, Ind.

What: Ronald and his helpers installed and landscaped a circular brick structure and walkway around a flagpole (and a brick structure around the entrance sign) at a camp in Indianapolis.


Dylan from Illinois

Who: Dylan, Troop 20, Oak Park, Ill.

What: The Ernest Hemingway Birthplace Museum was feeling financial pressure during the pandemic and thought to bring in some extra income by creating a parking lot behind its building to rent out six parking spaces. Dylan and his helpers, all wearing masks, cleared the overgrowth, leaves and debris; removed the broken wood ties and replaced them with ones in better condition; made a wooden template and used it to paint the parking stall lines; and installed stall markers. The museum was thrilled with the outcome of the Eagle project and is now able to bring in that much-needed income.


More in this series

Like these? See more here.

How to submit your photos

Have before-and-after Eagle photos I can use in future posts? Go here to learn how to send them to me.

About the Adams award for outstanding Eagle projects

The Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award honors outstanding Eagle projects.

An Eagle Scout, their parents, or any registered BSA volunteer (with the Eagle Scout’s permission) may submit the Eagle Scout service project for consideration by filling out the nomination form found here.

Visit the Boys’ Life Eagle Project Showcase

For even more great Eagle projects, check out the Boys’ Life Eagle Project Showcase.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.